Breadcrumbs

Margaretville Mountain and the New Kingston Valley

This ten-mile jaunt, with a ten-mile side trip, takes you from the Village of Margaretville over 2,041-foot Margaretville Mountain, down into unspoiled New Kingston Valley and back to the Byway.

Leave the Byway at the east entrance to Margaretville, cross the East Branch of the Delaware River on Bridge Street, proceed one block, and turn left at the light on Main Street. Go one block and turn right on Walnut Street. This becomes Margaretville Mountain Road.

Climb for 2 miles. The Victorian house and barn at the top of the mountain, now a bed and breakfast, was where the commercial cauliflower growing industry in the Catskills got its start in the 1890s.

As you descend enjoy the view of the valley to your left. In the first half of the 20th century, there were 40 family farms producing not only cauliflower but milk and vegetables in this valley. Ruff Farms was a major grower through the mid-1990s, trucking produce to markets in New York City, Boston and Washington, DC.

Margaretville Mountain Road ends at Delaware County Route 6. Stay straight on Route 6 to head up the valley to the hamlet of New Kingston (the entire community is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places), or turn right on Route 6 to drive down the valley, carved by the Plattekill stream.

This is a pleasant ride through open country. To add ten scenic miles to your adventure, turn right on Weaver Hollow Road, for a pastoral drive up this branch valley, which dead-ends five miles up the road. Especially glorious in the autumn, Weaver Hollow is its own reward!

Turn around where the pavement ends (there is a school bus turn around just beyond), and return to County Route 6. A right turn on Route 6 brings you back to the Byway (NYS Route 28).

Take a left at the intersection of County Route 6 and NYS Route 28 to complete the circle and return to Margaretville. A right at that intersection will take you over beautiful Palmer Hill to Andes, the western gateway of the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway.